A filter pane is an area located on the left side of a page, allowing users to filter data by a set of parameters.
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The filter pane contains two areas: a filter bar and a content panel.
When relevant, the filter bar is always shown.
Selected filters are represented by chicklets, appearing above the presented data (see The Chicklet Area below).
The content panel has two states:
Unpinned (default) - the panel overlays the content of the page, hiding everything behind it.
Pinned - the panel is shown next to the content of the page so nothing is hidden.
A set of filters can behave in one of three ways:
Faceted - filters are sorted by importance or popularity. Applying one filter changes the number of possible results shown in brackets next to other filters, where applicable. (Common).
Funnel - the filters are ordered by hierarchy. Applying a parent filter affects child filters, but applying a child filter does not affect parent filters. (Less common).
Independent - applying a filter does not affect other filters. (Not recommended).
The filter pane can operate in one of two modes:
Discrete - the user applies their selection from each filter tab independently, by clicking the Apply button separately for each one. (Common).
An exception is if only one selection is allowed within the tab. In this case, the Apply button will be hidden, and performing that single selection will apply the filter and close the filter pane.
Combined - the user can apply selections from multiple filter tabs in one go, by clicking the Apply All Filters button.
An application may have a similar set of filters across related workspaces. In this case, applying a filter on one workspace will affect the same filter on all related workspaces.
For more information see The Filter Bar, The Content Panel and The Chicklet Area below.
The filter bar contains one or more tabs.
Each tab consists of an icon and a title (e.g. Employees).
Once a filter has been applied, a blue dot shown on the left side of the relevant tab.
The filter bar sticks to the left side of the page.
The background of the bar stretches from the page header to the bottom of the page.
The width of the bar is fixed.
The group of tabs is aligned to the top of the bar.
Each tab can have one of these states:
State | Image | Comments |
|---|---|---|
Regular |  | |
Applied |  | |
Hover |  | |
Active |  | |
Selected |  | Only one tab can be selected at any given time. |
Selected, Hover |  | |
Focused |  | |
Focused, Hover |  | |
Focused, Selected |  |
In most cases, no tabs are selected by default.
Clicking a tab:
selects it, and
unselects any other tab.
If the content panel is unpinned:
clicking a tab will open the content panel in overlay mode, hiding everything behind it.
If the content panel is pinned:
clicking a tab will shows the relevant content in the content panel.
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The content panel contains the following elements:
At the top:
a title, similar to the corresponding title on the filter bar.
a pin icon button, allowing the user to switch between pinned and unpinned states.
a help icon button (optional).
The area under the title is the main content area of the panel. See Content below.
The bottom of the panel may contain the following elements:
Either an Apply or an Apply to All button, depending on whether you’re using Discrete or Combined filtering (see Basic Flow).
The Apply button is disabled until the filters currently shown in the content panel have been changed.
The Apply All Filters button is disabled until the filters in any of the tabs have been changed.
An indicator showing the number of selected items (e.g. 4 queues selected).
A Cancel button.
The button is disabled until the filter selection in the content panel has been changed.
A Clear button (only if Chicklets are not being used).
The button is disabled if no filters have been applied.
The content panel is positioned to the right of the filter bar.
The width of the panel is fixed.
The main content area of the panel can show either a Form, a List, or a combination of the two.
The number of possible results can (optionally) be shown next each filter item in brackets. See Common Examples below.
The content can have a variety of layouts. See Common Examples below.
In some cases, users can navigate from the content panel to Subsections, allowing them to access additional settings.
Clicking the pin icon switches the icon between pinned and unpinned states.
When unpinned, the content of the page stretches to its full width, being partially hidden by the content panel.
When pinned, the content of the page narrows to be shown next to the panel, so nothing is hidden.
Clicking the help icon opens a relevant help page in a new browser window.
Changing the content of the panel enables the Apply / Apply All Filters, Cancel, and Clear buttons, where they exist.
Clicking the Apply / Apply All Filters button:
applies the filter (or filters).
disables the button.
enables the Clear button, where it exists.
shows a blue indicator next to the relevant tab (or tabs) on the filter bar.
adds a chicklet (or chicklets) to the chicklet area (see The Chicklet Area below), unless otherwise specified.
If unpinned, closes the content panel.
Clicking the Cancel button:
cancels any unapplied changes made to the content.
disables the Apply / Apply All Filters and Cancel buttons.
If unpinned, closes the content panel.
If pinned, sets the focus to the first field of the content panel.
Clicking the Clear button:
Resets all fields in the content panel to their default states (either blank or with default selections).
(The Clear button is only shown if Chicklets are not being used).
Sets the focus to the first field of the content panel.
Clicking outside the content panel:
The content panel closes if:
the panel is unpinned. (When pinned, the panel always stays open).
no unapplied changes have been made.
If changes have been made to the content but have not been applied, a Popup may appear, allowing the user to either:
close the panel without applying the filter, or
continue editing.
For validations within a form see Field Validation.
The content panel will open and close with a brief slide effect.
When pinning / unpinning the content panel, the content on the main area of the page will collapse / expand with a transition effect.
Opening a panel containing a form will set the focus to the first field of the form.
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Chicklets are indicators of the currently applied filters.
There are two types of chicklets:
Regular. Deleting these chicklets will clear the corresponding filters.
Mandatory. Each mandatory chicklet will have a default value. Deleting a mandatory chicklet will show an empty state, instructing the user to apply the mandatory filters (see below).
In rare cases, a filter pane can be used without chicklets. In this case, a Clear button should be included in the content panel.
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In Discrete mode (see Basic Flow above):
in most cases, clicking Apply in the content panel creates a single chicklet. However, when the panel contains several distinct parameters, applying the filter may create several chicklets.
In Combined mode:
clicking Apply All Filters may create a single or multiple chicklets, depending on the number of filters that have been changed.
Each chicklet can have one of these states:
State | Image | Comments |
|---|---|---|
Regular |  | |
Hover |  | |
Active / Selected |  | Only one chicklet can be selected at any given time. |
Ghost |  | |
Ghost, Hover |  | |
Ghost, Active |  | |
Focused |  | |
Focused, Hover |  | |
Focused, Active |  |
The width of a chicklet will depend on its content, within minimum and maximum limits.
Each chicklet contains:
an icon, which is a smaller version of the corresponding tab icon on the filter bar.
chicklet text.
For a single selection, the selected value will be shown (e.g. Last 24 hours).
For multiple selections, it can show either:
the selected values, separated by commas (e.g. APAC, EMEA), or
if the text exceeds the maximum width of the chicklet, the name of the filter followed by the number of values in brackets (e.g. Interactions (3)). In this case, hovering the chicklet will show a tooltip with the full list of items.
a Close icon button (X), shown on hover.
In some cases, an additional action will appear:
If no mandatory chicklets were defined, a Clear All icon button will appear after the last chicklet, allowing users to clear all filters.
If at least one mandatory chicklet was defined, and the user changed its default value or added more chicklets, a Reset to default icon button will appear. Clicking the button will reset all mandatory chicklets to their default values and remove all other chicklets.
The chicklet area appears in the main workspace, above the corresponding data.
When no filters are applied, the chicklet area will be hidden. Adding the first chicklet will push all the content down, below the chicklet area.
Mandatory chicklets will be the first items. Other chicklets will appear in the order they were added.
In case the set of chicklets (including the Clear All button) exceeds the width of the chicklet area, they will wrap on to the next row, pushing the page content down. There can be up to three rows: beyond that point, a scrollbar will appear.
When the content panel is pinned - shows the relevant content in the content panel.
When unpinned - opens the relevant content panel.
Hovering a chicklet will show an X icon button, allowing the user to remove it.
clears the corresponding filter.
clears the blue indicator from the corresponding tab on the filter bar (unless there are more items related to that filter).
In case of a regular chicklet:
removes the chicklet. Any remaining chicklets will move to close the gap.
In case of a mandatory chicklet:
switches the chicklet to a “ghost” state.
shows an empty state for the data, instructing the user to add the mandatory filter (see example above).
shows a confirmation dialog (optional).
removes all chicklets, except for “ghost” chicklets, where they exist.
clears all filters.
clears the blue indicator from all tabs on the filter bar.
Note: in complex scenarios, behaviour may vary (see Common Examples below).
Use:
For major data sets (for example a table, grid, or dashboard), which needs to be filtered by one or more parameters.
For complex filtering or when a large number of filters is needed.
Don’t use:
For data in a Dialog or Details Panel.
Designs | Comment |
|---|---|
 | A single list filter with no dialog buttons. |
 | A date picker filter. |
 | A multi accordion filter. |
Unless otherwise specified, see our general compliance information in Fundamentals - Accessibility.
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